Super Mario 64 played on an Apple IIc monitor

Posted 17 Jul 2017

I always love the way that different technologies are compatible with each other even though your gut says that they shouldn’t. What makes it even more amazing is when the technology is decades apart. The Apple II was released in 1977, and the Apple IIc model made its debut in 1984; while the Nintendo 64 was released in 1996. That makes this a 20 year-old console running on a 40 year-old piece of kit.

Though to be fair, composite video cables have been around since the 1950’s and entered mass use since televisions were expected to carry more than just a TV signal. They are still in use to this day for some lower-resolution uses such as security cameras where HDMI and high definition video would be too wasteful.

Anyway, here is the video of the Nintendo 64 running on an Apple IIc monitor.

The screen is monochrome shades of green as was typical with this series of computer. I kinda like it – it gives off a Game Boy-esque kind of feeling. It feels a bit like a Virtual Boy game, but green instead of red. It’s kinda weird.

As you might expect, the monitor outputs no audio. It’s to be expected since the Apple II wasn’t really known for its sound capabilities, and even when they were used they required an additional sound card and didn’t output the sound via the monitor.

I’d love to see what other kinds of hardware can be mixed up with the Nintendo 64.